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President's Office

A new strategic approach for enrollment management

February 2, 2007

To the Campus Community:

I am writing to update you on changes in Cal State Northridge’s structure for managing its enrollment starting this semester. These changes will better enable the university to successfully sustain and manage its continued growth into the future. This strategic approach will be crucial if Cal State Northridge is to continue meeting its obligations to our students and our community in the coming years with state-of-the-art programs and facilities.

Even with this new structure, I want to assure you that Cal State Northridge will maintain its historic commitment to accessibility and its mission to serve all students who qualify for a CSU education, as mandated by the state. It is important to note that declaring Northridge an “impacted” campus for admissions is not our goal.

To implement these changes, a new Enrollment Management Committee has been appointed that will bring together the various areas of the university that previously acted separately in handling different aspects of enrollment management. Vice President for Student Affairs Terry Piper will chair the committee and provide senior leadership for this effort. This new model will establish a direct connection with the President’s Cabinet, thus defining strategic enrollment management as an institutional priority. Under this model, Vice President Piper will have responsibility for undergraduate enrollment management planning and policy development. Our Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Cynthia Rawitch, will serve as co-chair.

In addition, two subcommittees will report to the main committee: the Retention Subcommittee and the Business Practices and Communications Subcommittee. The Retention Subcommittee is charged with establishing and overseeing a campuswide coordinated and integrated approach to student persistence and retention. The Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. William Watkins, will chair this subcommittee. The Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Maureen Rubin, will serve as co-chair.

The Business Practices and Communications Subcommittee will consolidate the work of two currently existing committees--the Enrollment Strategies Group and the Integrated Communications Committee--into a single group. It will provide oversight and ongoing development of e-communication strategies with prospective students; ensure that enrollment practices are efficient and effective; and reconcile and review business practices as they relate to enrollment with the implementation of new technologies. Our Associate Vice President for Academic Resources, Dr. Spero Bowman, will chair this subcommittee, and the Associate Vice President for Finance and Accounting, Dr. Robert Barker, will co-chair.

These changes are the result of the broader planning efforts that have been underway on campus, particularly in the past year, to prepare the campus strategically for continued, well-planned growth. The successful and careful management of student enrollment is key to this sustained growth and will require a more integrated approach that everyone in the campus community should understand.